grover

I was thinking the same thing, joe- my owner's manual also says max 2 years between oil changes?

As a follow-up; how important is the "read out fault memory"? Everything else, I can DIY. Is there any way to DIY the fault memory? I don't suppose this is something I can get done free at autozone ;) Reason to join the local Porsche Club where I could bum it off another club member at meetings?

Edit: aha, this changed in MY04, where Porsche omitted the annual maintenance requirement and changed it to 2 years. The previous owner of my 04 986 had it done annually, though, so the maint schedule is all hosed up. Two more annual changes and it'll be back on track with 15k cycles... maybe I'll just do it that way. The obvious question is - what's different between an 03 and an 04? Is this Porsche admitting to being overly cautious, or did something actually change?

Grover:

A radio security code is required to be reset only on the earlier Boxsters, up to and including MY02.

AFAIK, no radio code is needed for MY04 Boxsters.

Also, follow the instructions for the air bag disconnect very carefully, both in terms of safety and in terms of not setting off the airbag light (which can then only be reset with a PIWIS, PST2 or Durametric).

To err on the side of caution with regards to the airbag light, make sure that the ignition is off and that the key is out of the ignition at all times until and unless everything is assembled back together. Although I understand it's not absolutely necesarry (for airbag light purposes) I also disconnect the negative cable of the battery, which then concurrently takes care of a part of the safety aspect of the airbag (wait at least one full minute after the battery is disconnected before attempting to take apart the airbag connection).

Regards, Maurice.

Thank you! Disconnecting the battery is one step I've widely ignored in the past working on my other cars, and, shoot, I drove for a month with the panel off the door of my camaro once, but this is clearly not one of my other cars ;) So far, no door problems with the 986, but I just got the car and saw your warning about the battery and it concerned me. I'll be extra careful to follow the procedures for all repairs and extra extra careful about the airbags now.

Here is a link that covers the door panel removal procedure in detail: http://www.ecoutez.net/boxster/door-panel-removal/

I see a warning there about the radio code before disconnecting the battery- what's the deal there? Will the radio stop working?

Edit: I have a 2004, if it's different with the later 986s.

Bose makes a subwoofer that fits in the storage box behind the seats. Not really the kind that'll make the car bounce, but it definitely balances out the sound.

Are there any mp3 solutions that hook up to the MOST bus like a CD changer and are controllable by a stock CDR23? Otherwise, I'll probably just cave and buy an ipod and an FM transmitter. I miss not having a CD-mp3 player in my '04 986 like I did in my last car.